Responding to India's furious gesture, Palestine regrets Hafiz Saeed comradery as an 'unintended mistake'

New Delhi, January 1: Palestine on Saturday recalled its envoy to Pakistan Waleed Abu Ali for sharing the stage with 26/11 terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and said that they are taking serious cognizance of their Ambassador's presence at the event.

 

Notably, the move comes after New Delhi slammed Palestine for its Ambassador to Pakistan Waleed Abu Ali shared a stage with global terrorist and 26/11 mastermind LeT chief Hafiz Saeed at Difah-e-Pakistan Council rally in Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Palestine in a statement clarified that the participation of our envoy in a mass solidarity rally with Jerusalem, held in Rawalpindi on Friday, and in the presence of individuals accused of supporting terrorism is an unintended mistake, but not justified.

The statement further said, “Accordingly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates under the direct instructions of the President of the State of Palestine to recall the Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan immediately.” Meanwhile, the Palestine Foreign Office spokesperson said, “Palestine is keen to maintain good relations with friendly India and supports it for the efforts in its fight against terrorism.”

Earlier, New Delhi strongly conveyed to the Palestinian side that the Palestinian Ambassador in Pakistan's association with terrorist Hafiz Saeed, who is proscribed by the United Nations, at an event in Rawalpindi on 29.12.2017 saying that it is unacceptable. The concerns were conveyed both in New Delhi to the Palestinian Ambassador and in Ramallah to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, State of Palestine.

 

On Friday, Palestine last week, Ambassador to Pakistan Waleed Abu Ali shared a stage with global terrorist and 26/11 mastermind LeT chief Hafiz Saeed at Difah-e-Pakistan Council rally in Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi. Difah-e-Pakistan Council is an umbrella group of 40 religious and extremist groups in Pakistan, headed by the JuD chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. Saeed used the rally to call for an "Islamic summit" to defend Jerusalem from Israel.